TANGIPAHOA PARISH, La. (WGNO) — The Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office arrested a man they say is responsible for the sexual battery of a student. According to a post on their Facebook page, an alert went out to the sheriff’s office Juvenile Division, of a student being touched inappropriately at Ponchatoula High School.
Investigations revealed the custodian, 40-year-old Levan Harris, of Hammond, allegedly asked a female student who was attending summer school, to help him move furniture in a vacant classroom.
The student agreed to help and when they were finished, deputies say Harris offered the student money. When she declined, Harris reportedly “put his hand under the students shirt and began rubbing the money and his hand on her breast.”
Deputies arrested Harris and booked him into Tangipahoa Parish Jail on one count of sexual battery. Levan Harris has not officially been found guilty of charges and remains innocent until then.
On Tuesday, School Superintendent Melissa Stilley said that the man, who was previously assigned to the Ponchatoula High School campus, is no longer an employee of the school system. “Our district puts the health and safety of our students first and foremost,” Stilley said Tuesday.
“These are very serious allegations, and as such, we have taken swift action to review this case. We are also cooperating fully in the police investigation.”